Estate Attorneys: Turn Dec 31 Into a Campaign

Every December, clients suddenly want wills signed, gifts made, and business paperwork wrapped up before the ball drops. If your marketing starts then, you’re late. The people ready to act already picked up the phone, and they called someone else.

So start now.

Why year-end works

Give clients a reason to call now. A year-end plan review is the easiest yes in estate planning. Nobody needs to know what’s wrong with their plan to book one. They just need to realize it’s been a while.

Gifting comes with a hard deadline. Annual gifts run on the calendar year, so anyone thinking about one has until Dec 31. Invite them in to talk it through while there’s still time.

Then there are the holidays. Families sit at the same table for the first time all year, and things come up. Mom mentions the will she signed in 2009. Someone asks where the deed is, and nobody knows. That’s your moment. Make the next step easy to pass along: call the firm, book a plan review.

Business owners already have tax season on their minds. Ask what they want off their plate before January, then tell them what you can take on.

Talk to each group differently. A family gearing up for a hard conversation and an owner cleaning up paperwork are calling for very different reasons.

Build one “before Dec 31” offer

Keep it simple: a plan review, followed by a signing when the work fits.

Write the offer so your receptionist can read it word for word. Name the appointment, say who it’s for, and give the cutoff for new matters.

To find your cutoff, start with your last signing slot of the year and count backward. Leave room for drafting, client revisions, and the days you’re closed. For some firms that lands around Dec 12. For others, it’s Thanksgiving.

Put that date next to the offer everywhere it shows up. When a matter needs more time than you have, say so on the first call. Clients can plan around “January.” What they can’t plan around is a surprise.

Spread the word through referrers

Your CPAs and financial advisors are already having these conversations. Give them something to say.

Call them. Tell them which year-end matters you’re taking and when new inquiries need to reach you. Hand them one sentence they can repeat without thinking.

Then name the trigger. When a client brings up gifting, or admits their will is older than their car, that’s the cue to mention your plan review.

Past clients count too. Let them know family members can call you directly.

And use your holiday cards. Put the invitation and your cutoff right next to your phone number, where it’ll catch someone’s eye on the fridge in mid-December.

Need more ideas? Borrow from these holiday phone campaign ideas and point every one back to the year-end consult.

Answer every inquiry

Here’s the catch with a good campaign: the calls come while you’re busy. A referral rings mid-signing, and you can’t step out.

Decide now who picks up. Give them the same cutoff and appointment details your referrers have.

Or let an 800.com AI agent handle it. It books consults, answers “what should I bring?”, and sends anything about a caller’s own plan straight to you.

It’s only as good as what you teach it. Load in your appointment types, open slots, and cutoff. Add the bring list: current will, trust documents, deeds, beneficiary forms. Tell it what to say when someone can’t find a document (usually “bring what you have”). Then list the questions that come to you: changing a will, making a gift, whether a complicated matter can close by Dec 31.

Then call it yourself. Book a consult. Ask what to bring. Ask whether you should update your will. Wherever it stumbles, tighten the instruction and call again.